Abstract
The spread of forest fire is largely related to wind and topography. What is most important is the relationship between wind direction and topography in predicting the area of fire spread since the main direction of the fire spread is changes with the direction of the wind. This thesis analyzes the forest fire which occurred in Kakamigahara City in Gifu Prefecture in April 2002 as a major example. The idea of the analysis is that the land form classification map shows the distribution of the wind power in the area if the land form classification map for the eligible area is drawn up by using topographical elements considered to influence the wind. In other words, the flow of the wind can be recognized from the distribution map of the wind power, by which the area of the fire spread is predictable. The analysis in this thesis is based on this idea, and main topographical elements contributing to the fire spread of the forest fires provide a “form of topography,” namely, the topographical element representing steep or mild topography and “the topographical element representing direction where land is inclined.” In addition, the effect of the topography when the direction of the wind is changed (that is, the complex influence of wind direction and topography) is defined, and analysis is made based on it. As a result, it proved that the direction of the wind comprises a large element when predicting the area of fire spread, and it is important to predict in accordance with the change of direction of the wind in predicting the area of fire spread.
